Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood says X Factor should be axed for good and replaced with another talent show

STRICTLY Come Dancing’s acid-tongued judge, Craig Revel-Horwood, claims X Factor should be ditched altogether.

The feisty BBC One star, never fearful of mincing his words, claims Simon Cowell’s ITV singing series is in dire need of “souping up.”

Craig, 54, is likely to make the comments though, as he stars on the rival Saturday night TV series battling for viewers’ loyalty.

He told the Star: “They’ll have to change the format, soup it up a bit, and something else can take place. Something will come along.

“There are always going to be talent shows. There will always be an X Factor-style show of some description.

“People love those kinds of shows.”

Craig is currently on the panel for Strictly, which had problems of its own on Saturday night as two stars were forced out due to injury.

Paralympian Will Bayley was given a bye for Halloween Week as he suffered a horror leg injury, while professional Neil Jones was switched out of his routine thanks to a niggle.

Ex Strictly professional James Jordan also slammed the series for its “weakest” week yet.

Yet despite Craig’s comments, X Factor head judge Simon Cowell may have little to fear.

After re-vamping the series with a celebrity spin this year, The Sun Online exclusively reported how both BGT and The X Factor will be renewed for at least another year – as ratings surge for the Celebrity version.

ITV, Syco and Thames are looking to sign another deal with the two talent shows as ratings for X Factor: Celebrity continue to rise.

Despite reports that viewing figures have plummeted, the first episode of the new format pulled in 7.5million viewers.

An ITV spokesperson said: “ITV enjoys a very close working relationship with Syco and Thames and are currently negotiating a new deal for 2020 and beyond. This will be announced in due course.”

The news comes amid claims that the channels new head of entertainment Katie Rawcliffe was planning to axe X Factor after 15 years.

But a source revealed that rather than getting rid of the show, it will in fact continue to thrive along with Simon’s other show BGT.

Last night, American actress Olivia Olson was given the boot on X Factor: Celebrity, alongside chat show host Ricki Lake.

She wasn’t too chuffed with the music mogul either, taking to Instagram to flag her “shock” after his confusing comments.

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